Promotion
by SheepishWish
Summary: Mr. Maellard promotes Mordecai out of nowhere! Even though he doesn't want the position, he finds out quickly that when he does his life starts falling into place. Mordeson.
1. Chapter 1

It was another boring day for Mordecai and Rigby. It usually is when they're on the clock, but who's counting the three hours forty-five minutes and sixty seconds they have left?

"Three hours, forty-five minutes, and fifty-nine seconds left of this bull…" Rigby groaned as he lays exhausted on the steps of the porch.

"Aw, dude! Come on. I hate knowing how much time we have left. It makes it go by _slower_," Mordecai grimaced, not wanting to be there much more than his friend did.

"Well, stop working and take a break. It'll make it go _faster_," Rigby said.

"Yeah, except if I stop then this will never get done. Benson told us to get rid of the spider webs from the porch so they don't get inside. You know how scared Pops gets when he sees spiders," Mordecai said, a little peeved that Rigby is still sitting there and his broom untouched. It isn't long until Mordecai feels dragged into his own laziness. He sighs and gives in, "A five minute break and we get back to work."

Rigby just brushes it off, "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Whatever."

"You know, if I didn't cover for you so much you probably would have been fired by now," Mordecai sits back on the steps and rests his head on the side of the porch.

Rigby sputters his lips with a laugh and shakes his head, "Whatever. Benson needs me. Without me, it would look like no one was doing what they're supposed to. As long as I'm here, it makes it seem like everyone is working really hard every day. I'm doing a service to everyone."

"Sometimes I question your logic," Mordecai doesn't though. He's too relaxed right now and on the verge of sleeping, "Just keep an eye out for Benson. I'm gunna rest my eyes."

"Geez, you're too worried out Benson. Just relax. Before you know it you'll be sucking his cinnamon gumballs," Rigby laughs.

Mordecai cracks one eyes open, "One: Ew. Two: How the _heck_ would you know what flavor his gumballs are?"

"Here's a better question: Why the _HECK_ aren't you two doing your jobs!?" It's as if Benson snuck up behind them while they weren't looking.

This caused the two to bolt up and tumble down the stairs. They both scramble to their brooms and start sweeping the spider webs frantically.

"I should fire both of you! I give you the simplest jobs and you can't even finish them!" But just as Benson was going to rant and scold them, he sees Mr. Maellard drive up. He goes stiff and his demeanor totally changes. As his boss walks to the porch Benson gives him a friendly greeting that gets cut off as Mr. Maellard walks passed them and into the house.

"I want to have a word with you, Beanteen!" Mr. Maellard stops, looks down at the two that are working vigorously (or seemingly looking so), "…and big bird, too! Now!"

"Mordecai!?" Benson asks, sharing a look of shock with his co-worker.

"Oooooh! Someone's in trouble," Rigby whispers.

"Shut up," Mordecai punches his friend lightly, which shuts him up mainly because it actually hurt Rigby. "This is probably your fault," Mordecai says, not happy as he follows both bosses into the house.

They both sit down in front of Mr. Maellard's large desk and for some reason Benson feels obligated to defend his co-worker, "Listen, I've seen both Mordecai and Rigby's work ethics! If anyone needs a good talking to its Rigby, not-!"

Mr. Maellard cuts Benson off again, motioning to Mordecai, "Is this Rig-ball?"

"No, I'm Mordecai," he introduces himself, even though he's sure he's done it about a dozen times already.

"Well, Morbid-Cry, how long have you been working here?" Maellard asks. He should know, but Mordecai doesn't question it because the guy couldn't even get his name right.

Mordecai actually has to count in his head. He tried to go to college for a year after he had gotten out of high school. When that hadn't worked out, he found the ad for the park with Rigby. They offered a place to stay where they were going to work. "About five-six years, sir." Mordecai cringes inwardly because he couldn't believe how long it's been.

Mr. Maellard turns to Benson, "How long have you been working here before I promoted you, Burnton?"

Benson sighs because that was a long time ago. So much longer than Mordecai had worked here. He was plunged into a very unneeded and bitter nostalgia. "I was working here for ten years before you promoted me."

Mordecai's head shoots up because he can't even picture Benson being anything but his boss. He wonders why it took Benson so long to get to where he is now.

"Sounds about right," Mr. Maellard announces and gives Mordecai squinted eyes, "You're being promoted, Mordo-Ride."

"_WHAT!?_" Both Benson and Mordecai shouts in unison.

Benson butts in shortly after, "What do you mean!? Mordecai doesn't even finish his work half the time!"

Mordecai wasn't going to argue because he knew it was true. Besides, he didn't want to be promoted. He didn't want more work and more responsibilities.

"What's this now, Bean-Stalk!? You said you've observed his work ethic and it was better than another employee and he's had ample years of experience at the park. Besides, you stink! This park needs another set of eyes! Show him the ropes!" Mr. Maellard stands as if to say _we're done here._

Benson's fuming as his boss leaves.

Mordecai can't believe what had just happened. He also can't believe that Rigby was right in his logic. Compared to Rigby, he was a better worker which got him this crappy raise. He kind of wished he was wrong.

Benson looks like a volcano about ready to erupt.

Mordecai takes the hint and heads out, "I uh… need to get back to work on those spider webs. Hahah…" His cheer is false and forced, and he disappears down the stairs.

Oh man, this was awful!

* * *

Mordecai punches Rigby's arm, causing him to flip over the railing of the porch and landing face first into the asphalt driveway. "Thanks a lot, dude! Because of you I'm getting promoted!" Mordecai throws his hands up and acts like he had just gotten fired, which doesn't sound like a bad idea right about now.

Rigby rubs his face, hoping all of his teeth are still intact. "You're welcome, but why did you hit me?"

"Do you really think I want to run around like Benson with a clipboard attached to my hand?" Mordecai crosses his arms across his chest.

"You're looking at this the wrong way, man," Rigby hops back onto his feet and rushes up the stairs again, "If you're the boss, we can have fun _all day!_ There won't be anyone to tell us to get back to work!"

Mordecai almost believes him. He really wants to believe him. Then, it's as if a light bulb goes off in his head, "Yeah! I'll do such a bad job they'll have to demote me!"

"Suh-weet! So, just sit back and relax!" Rigby does just that on the steps.

When Mordecai is about to join him, he feels a seething heat behind him. He swallows because it's Benson. "Haha… Hey, Benson—"

Benson points at Mordecai, "You! Come with me!" His fiery eyes meet Rigby, "You! Get out of here! I don't care if you take the rest of the day off or you want to jump off a cliff—Just _Get. Out. Of. Here!_"

Mordecai watches Rigby scurry away and he swallows thickly. He must be angry if he just let Rigby off early like that. "Hey, um… if you want to just demote me now, it's cool. I don't mind. I really don't want this position anyway," Mordecai says truthfully, "I mean, I don't want to cause you more stress , or whatever."

Benson turns back to Mordecai slowly and looks him over. He let out a breath which causes his face to go back to its proper color, "I don't like this either, but Maellard's word is above mine. Even if I did want to demote you, which I do, I wouldn't be able to. So, do me a favor Mordecai if you really do want to lighten the stress load on me, do what I say."

Mordecai doesn't know how many times he's promised this to Benson. No matter how much he does want to work and stay on track, he always gets distracted. _Always._ "I'll give you my word. I'll try as hard as I can."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Benson's words are heated with anger.


	2. Chapter 2

Mordecai kind of figured that being a boss just meant going around and telling people what to do. He realized very quickly that it was more than that. It was planning and working and telling people what to do was a freaking art Benson's perfected. He even found out that Benson also had a list of things to do around the park. He just did them while no one else saw. He would take care of plumbing and electric lines. He write down things that needed fixing up and maintenance. And at the end of the day, he would sit up in the office until midnight filing paperwork, paying the park's bills, and planning the next day's work day.

It was a work of 'training' which was just him following Benson around and shadowing him. The weather had gotten colder too and the spider problem on the porch was getting worse.

"I can uh… look up a cheap exterminator online and give them a call tomorrow," Mordecai offers as he steps out onto the porch, zipping up his blue jacket.

Benson is taken by surprise at Mordecai's offer because the blue jay had been pretty worthless for the last few weeks and unmotivated. Benson lets a small smile pull at the side of his mouth and gives Mordecai an impressed tone, "Yeah… _yeah,_that sounds like a great idea actually." Benson shivers and pulls his scarf closer to himself to block the bitter wind.

Mordecai takes the clipboard from Benson and motions to the house, "I… I think I can remember how to do inventory on the supply closet. You can go inside and warm up for awhile."

Benson almost snatches the clipboard away from Mordecai until he hears his words. He examines the blue jay's face to make sure he wasn't trying to pull anything. When the other's face didn't falter, he sighs and smiles. It's the first sigh of relief he's experienced in awhile. He agrees to Mordecai's offer but adds before he goes inside, "Let me see the list before you log it into the computer, and if you have any questions just let me know, okay?"

"I think I can manage. It isn't rocket science. It's a few bags of gravel and garden hoses," Mordecai gives Benson a semi-cocky look, but for once he wished Benson would have a little more faith in him. He just wanted some kind of chance to redeem himself.

Benson shakes his head, "Okay. I'll come check up on you in fifteen minutes."

Mordecai waves him off and looks down at the clipboard with an amused look on his face.

"You and Benson are awful chummy," Rigby says in a snarky tone.

"Whatever," Mordecai shrugs it off and heads over toward the storage closet. He stops though and turns to Rigby, "You know, you should really clean the spider webs. It's kind of been a few weeks, dude."

"_Dude,_" Rigby starts almost in a mocking way, "Don't play me like I'm dumb. I heard you talking to Benson about an exterminator! Let _them_take care of it!"

Mordecai frowned, "Well… if you would have done it weeks ago, it wouldn't have gotten this bad. If you do a good job, we could probably save the park some money…"

Rigby falls backward on the porch steps lazily, "Ugh! Are you even listening to yourself right now!? You sound like Benson!" He crosses his arms across his chest, "This place is so dull now. I don't even have my best bro to hang with anymore. What happened to, 'I'll do such a bad job they'll have to demote me!'"

"Well, this job isn't too bad, dude. Besides, I get paid more. If I keep saving, I can get my own place," Mordecai says with a small smile. "Maybe, if things work well with Margaret…"

"What!? You're just going to leave? What's wrong with living with me?" Rigby says frantically.

"Well…" Mordecai's voice softens because he feels for Rigby. He's his best friend, but… "I'm already twenty-five, dude. I want to meet someone and settle down, you know? I can't do that living here at the park."

Rigby's eyes are wide and glassy like he's about to cry, but he stomps up to Mordecai and punches him in the arm. Mordecai doesn't feel it and Rigby ends up walking away blowing on his sore knuckles.

Mordecai looks down at his clipboard with sad eyes. Even if he did manage to get his own place, it wouldn't ensure he life with Margaret. He could keep hoping though. He turned to the storage closet and began counting.

* * *

Benson enters fifteen minutes later like he said he would. He winced as he glanced inside like he was expecting a fire or a hole in the wall. When he saw that it was just Mordecai marking down numbers on a piece of paper under a dim light, he looked relieved.

Mordecai was too focused on what he was doing that he hadn't noticed Benson coming up to him. He jolted back to reality, jumping and in turn scaring Benson. "Oh, uh… Sorry."

"It's okay," Benson said, laughing a little. He had on a thicker pink coat and some mittens. He was a little over dressed for the temperature outside, but Mordecai figured he just got cold easily. He hands Mordecai a mug with steaming brown liquid, "Pops made hot chocolate. Thought you would want some."

Mordecai reached for it, then stopped. He looked back up at Benson and then back down to the drink as if asking permission. It was weird because Benson wasn't nice to him. He looked around to see if Benson was talking to someone else, but they were the only two in there.

Benson arches his eyebrow, "Take it. You act like it's poisoned." He shoves it in Mordecai's hand, forcing him to hold it. "Here. Trade ya," he grabs the clipboard and shuffles through the papers. "Oh, wow. You're almost done," Benson says with a genuine smile. It hits him. If he trains Mordecai and he's up to par, Benson could start getting days off. That was worth ten hot chocolates.

Mordecai is looking at Benson who is staring at the papers attached to the clipboards. It reminds him of weeks back on the day Maellard promoted him and how Benson wasn't promoted for ten years. His curiosity gets the better of him when he asks, "How come it took you ten years to get promoted. I mean, you're such a hard worker."

Benson scoffs, "Well now, that's none of your business."

Mordecai frowns. He thought they were beginning to trust each other. Perhaps they had a long way to go. He takes a sip and the drink is creamy and sweet, warming down into his chest.

Benson flips the papers up where Mordecai had left off and finishes up the inventory. "If you don't tell…" Benson says under his breath, "I was a slacker. I never did what I was supposed to. I lived at the park like you and Rigby. I guess, I didn't have any motivation. Pops never gave up on me, but at the same time I didn't get that push I needed. Then, me and Skips got better acquainted. He made me realize that I was wasting my life away." Benson meets Mordecai's eyes briefly, "Rigby's lucky to have a friend like you. You can get him on the right track."

Mordecai let out a doubtful laugh. He regretted talking about this. This was supposed to be about Benson, not himself.

Benson continued, "My dad wanted me to go into business. I wanted to go to school for music, but I guess with the lack of support from my family I gave up. I felt like I wasn't good enough for anything. I ended up here as a drop out and pretty much a failure in my parents eyes." A bitter smile crosses his face, "I'm sure I still am."

"What!? Are you kidding! You have a job and a home and a girlfriend! I mean, who wouldn't be proud of that?" Mordecai blurted out before he had a chance to think about what he had just said.

Benson's smile is warm and he looks away to hide it. "Yeah, well… I have more years under my belt. I bet in a few years you'll have your life figured out." Benson flips the pages down, finished with inventory, "Keep up the good work, Mordecai." He leaves out of the storage closet.

Mordecai watches him leave with a smile. He hasn't been complimented by Benson for awhile and it felt good. Although, he was kicking himself for getting so personal. He grabbed his head, beating himself up over it, "Ugh! What's wrong with me!?" he kicks at a bag of gravel and hops around grabbing his sore toe and falls over, knocking down a stack of bricks over. He lays there for a moment, kind of glad Benson hadn't seen that. Or anyone else for that matter.

Mordecai had a long way to go.

* * *

Mordecai is at the computer scrolling through websites trying to find an affordable exterminator, but unfortunately they were all over priced. He bangs his head against the keyboard, feeling the sense of failure setting in. This mindless act causes an ad to pop up and it's exactly what he's looking for! It's a crazy looking cowboy guy rounding up spiders like cattle. It was cheesy, but extremely cheap. He writes the phone number down triumphantly.

The room is dark and the light flips on at the moment, temporarily blinding Mordecai. "What are you doing up still? You're off the clock," Benson says. Sleep was hanging over his own head desperately. By the looks of it, he must have just finished the day's paperwork.

"Oh, I found," Mordecai gets too excited and trips over the chair, falling on his face right by Benson's feet. He holds up a yellow sticky note with the exterminator's number on it, waving it back and forth, "I found an exterminator."

"That's great!" Benson says with a big smile. He looks down at Mordecai who hasn't removed his face from the carpet. He sighs because he can tell he's sleeping. He takes the note and covers Mordecai's limp body with a blanket before heading to the doorway. He shuts off the lights and before closing the door whispers a "Thanks."


	3. Chapter 3

There was a shrill scream the next morning from Pops. It woke Mordecai up quickly, "Guh!? Wah…?" His eyes barely opened as he felt sore all over from sleeping on the floor. He looked down at the floor then at the blanket wrapped around him before it hit him. "Pops!" He picked himself up and in an attempt to rush toward the sound of the scream, he bashed his side into the wall. He hissed, knowing he'd feel that later today. He bursts into the bathroom and finds Pops in a towel up to his chest and a shower cap on.

"Assistance is much needed! There's a spider in the shower! Bad show! Very bad show!" Pops whines and dances around anxiously, physically distraught by the idea of a spider in the shower.

Mordecai only lets out a sigh of relief. He thought Pops was hurt or something. "Yeah, um… wait here. I'll go get a shoe and smash it." Mordecai rushes down the stairs and barely sees Benson running up them. They smash into each other and plummet down the stairs.

Benson pushes Mordecai off him roughly and is already red in the face, "What the _HECK_, Mordecai!?"

"Sorry! Sorry, I just need a shoe. Pops got scared and saw a spider in the shower," Mordecai feels around the floor disoriented from the fall.

Benson lets out a frustrated noise, "This is why I told you and Rigby to get rid of those spider webs." He chucks one of his fuchsia boots Mordecai's way and helps up his disoriented co-worker.

"I mean… I tried to talk to Rigby. He's just so sad. I think he misses me and him working together," Mordecai tries to defend.

Benson just rolls his eyes, "Well, there's not much we can do now. What's done is done. If Rigby doesn't stop slacking off, I really might need to fire him."

"What!?" Mordecai asked, bewildered.

"Mordecai, my good man, might I suggest you hurrying up!" Pops shouts from the upstairs.

"Y-yeah! Just a minute!" Mordecai shouts back. He looks at Benson, "You can't fire Rigby!"

"Can't I?" Benson arches one eyebrow, "I'm paying him to sit around. If he wants to just sit around all day, he can do it unemployed."

"I think he's just down, ya know?" Mordecai asks and it's very clear Benson doesn't know.

Benson just stares at Mordecai for a good moment before pointing up the stairs, "Just get back to work or I'll consider firing you."

Mordecai is about to run up the stairs when Benson's words register. He glares at his boss and throws the boot at his chest. "You don't have the authority to fire me! That's up to Maellard! And give Rigby a _chance!_ When you started, you slacked off for _ten years!_"

"Mordecai!? Have you retrieved the shoe, yet?" Pops asks anxiously, but it goes on deaf ears.

"Gah!" Benson rubs the silver crank as if it's sore after having a boot thrown at it. "I knew you'd use that against me! Well, news flash: That happened a long time ago! And if you want to bring up stuff from the past, let's talk about _you_ slacking off every day! At least when I slacked off, it only affected _my own_ job! It's like you and Rigby would always go out of your way to jeopardize my job!"

"Why would we _do_ that? That makes no sense!" Mordecai backs Benson to the wall and slams his hands down by either side of him. He looks straight into his eyes as he says, "You've been there before. Put yourself in Rigby's shoes. Cut him so slack. He's been feeling really low lately!"

Benson can feel the anger boiling up inside him and steaming with condensation. He should have never told Mordecai anything. His first mistake was to start trusting the guy. The words didn't burst from his lips like they usually did, but it still had the same bite when he said it, "I can't believe I thought I could trust you. I just thought since you were doing such a good job that I'd respect you more. Well, I may not be able to fire you, but I can still tell you to get back to work." Benson pushes Mordecai's arms away and stomps out hotter than a microwave-oven.

Mordecai bashes his head against the wall out of exasperation, but realizes quickly that it freaking hurt! He eyes Benson's boot on the ground and picks it up. He was in a major conflict with his boss and his best friend. Before he got promoted, there wasn't too big of an issue. He'd usually listen to Rigby, which got him in trouble. Now, things are a little complicated. Benson's counting on him and to be perfectly honest he likes getting on Benson's good side.

"Mordecai! He's crawling toward me! And his little hairy legs are ewwy!" Pops screeches again.

"Coming!" Mordecai hustles upstairs with the little pink boot and when he gets to the bathroom he can't believe what he's seeing. Yeah, he was expecting a big spider, but this one was six feet tall. "Pops! Get out of there!" Mordecai chucks the boot at the spider and it makes a shrill noise. He grabs Pops and shuts the door before it can follow them out. He grabs the chair from the computer room and props it against the doorknob. "Oh my god! What the H was that S!?" Mordecai was suffering from a miniature panic attack before heading toward the stairs again, "I need to call the exterminator!"

Pops just stands in front of the door awkwardly as Rigby walks out of his room sleepily. He glances at Pops then the door before saying, "I don't even want to know." He walks down the stairs one-by-one slowly with a grumpy look on his face as he spots Mordecai screaming into the receiver of the phone talking about giant spiders. "Dude, keep it down. I was trying to sleep."

Mordecai looks over his shoulder at Rigby for a moment about to say something before he returns to his conversation with the exterminator.

Rigby just shrugs it off and walks to the kitchen making himself some cereal. He's confused when there are no marshmallow bits. Rigby is the only one in the house that would take the time out to go through every bit of cereal just to collect the marshmallow pieces. He shakes the box again and a dozen little spiders fall out carrying away the marshmallows. Rigby screams and flips the whole table over before running on all fours next to Mordecai. "Spiders!" Rigby shouts as he points at the small arachnids rummaging around the kitchen.

Mordecai gasps and talks into the receiver, "Send someone right away!" He hangs up and grabs the brooms laying on the porch and throws one toward Rigby. He exchanges glances with him, "You ready to finish what we started?"

"Hm! Hm!" They both exchange replies three or four times before charging into the kitchen and wielding the brooms like weapons against the spiders.

"These ones are smaller than the one in the bathroom," Mordecai starts to explain as he punts a spider with the blunt end of the broom, "These must be the babies!"

"There's more!?" Rigby freaks, swatting another with the bristled end, "And it's _bigger!?_"

"Much bigger, dude," Mordecai confirmed, "I'll hold them off, go get Skips. We're going to need backup until the exterminator gets here!"

"I'm not arguing!" Then again, Rigby never argues if it gets him out of doing more work than he needs to. He high-tails it on all fours to the garage where he hopes to find Skips.

Mordecai flips the table up and acts like a barrier as he sweeps at the creepy crawlies.

It's as if Skips materializes right next to Mordecai while he isn't paying attention, almost giving him a heart attack. He's too worried about the spiders to care at the moment though, "Skips! What are these things?!"

"I heard of these spiders before," Skips squints his eyes and begins explaining, "They're called Sugar Skull Spiders."

"Why are they called that!?" Rigby asks, panicked.

"They eat brains. More specifically candy people's brains. The mother must have been attracted to Pops and followed him into the shower," Skips said.

Mordecai was going to ask why he knew all of this, but he saw the van with the cowboy logo pull up into the driveway. "Finally!" Mordecai hops over the barricade kitchen table and sweeps a path toward the door. He opens the door just as the man dressed in western get-up can even ring the doorbell, "You must be the exterminator!"

"You reckoned correct, my friend!" He tipped his ten-gallon hat and his southern accent made Mordecai annoyed.

Mordecai wasn't going to get into it though. He just wanted the spiders gone. "Follow me! In the kitchen! There's a bunch of them!" He guides the man inside.

"What in tarnation! Son, you have an infestation problem. You should really call someone 'bout that," the cowboy said stupidly.

Mordecai just locked eyes with him, baffled. "What!? I thought you were an exterminator! That's why I called you!"

The cowboy looked down at himself and then back up at the dilemma in the kitchen. It takes him a good minute before shouting, "Well, look at that! Guess you don't have yerself that big offa problem after all!" He pulled out the guns from his holsters and starts firing away at the critters.

"Careful! There's people in there!" Mordecai cries out to the exterminator. His attention is taken from the huge spider crawling down the stairs with a crying Pops in his mouth. "Pops!" He runs after him to the front yard with his broom in hand. It's as if he feels himself flying in slow-motion as he jumps from the railing of the porch at the giant spider. He swings the broom hard and the impact is hard enough for the spider to drop Pops. "Run!" He orders Pops as he watches him do just that. It's just him and the giant spider and he's scared out of his mind.

The spider shrieks at Mordecai, but feels his senses filling with the sweet scent of bubblemint. He turns around and spots Benson, who's just giving the creature a look as if he couldn't believe what he is seeing.

"Benson, run! He wants your candy-filled head!" Mordecai shouts, swatting the spider's legs in an attempt to get its attention again.

It's just a matter of time though. The spider grabs Benson by the head and bites the lid off, consuming the delicious gumballs inside.

"Help! Someone, help!" Mordecai screams as he continues to swat its legs. Unfortunately, one of the legs kicks him and he falls back onto the steps, tumbling down them. He watches helplessly as the spider continues to eat the candy from Benson's head.

"Yee-HAW!" The cowboy emerges from the house and starts shooting the spider. The spider drops Benson and he falls limp to the ground with gumballs falling from his opened head. The exterminator opens the back of his van to grab a lasso, "This one's a biggun!" He starts to round up the large spider and hog tie him. He straps it to the hood of his car and wipes the sweat from his forehead.

"Good show! Jolly good show! What is your name, mister crusader of justice?" Pops emerges from the house fully dressed at this point and clapping his hands.

"Me?" The cowboy says a little too dramatic as if he was saying it to a camera, "Well, they call me Dirty Harry." He pulls out his gun and shoots quickly. It looks like he means to shoot a crate next to the house, but shoots and shatters a window instead. He looks around with shifty eyes and sneaks back into his van to drive away.

"Dirty Harry?" Rigby scoffs and walks over to Mordecai, "I think he means, Quick Draw… with no aim! OOooooohhhh….hh?" His voice trails off when he doesn't hear Mordecai's voice in unison with his.

Mordecai completely ignores Rigby and runs over to Benson's body. He looks like he's in critical condition and he isn't even responding. "Dude, I think he's hurt! We should get him to the hospital!"

"I'll go get the wheels," Skips states, heading for the garage.


	4. Chapter 4

After Benson is bandaged up, the group sits in the room hoping their park manager will wake up soon. The doctor had explained to them that he was, "A few gumballs short of a dozen." It wasn't as funny as it was in his head.

"Dude, if only I cleaned up those stupid spider webs earlier. None of this would have happened," Mordecai said, holding his head.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Rigby chimed in cheerily.

Mordecai wished he didn't care as much as he did. He was almost envious of how Rigby can dust stuff off so easily. The other day he could barely dust off the family room table. This was big though. Benson got his head chewed on by a candyman-eating spider and now he wasn't waking up. What if the blow caused Benson to become a vegetable for the rest of his life. Mordecai couldn't live with something like that on their conscious.

Just with that thought, Mordecai saw Benson's eyes open slowly. He let out a breath that he didn't remember holding and smiled.

Benson looked around rather confused at first. When he saw Mordecai's eyes, it was like they were so striking he couldn't look away. He furrowed his brow addressing his question to Mordecai, "Who are you?" He notices the other's huddled around his hospital bed, "Who are you people?"

It's as if Mordecai's jaw unhinges.

"What? You mean you can't remember how we forgot to clean up the spider webs and the house got infested and the huge spider ate the gumballs out of your head?" Rigby asks, obviously not helping.

Mordecai elbows Rigby.

Benson's eyes are wide after he hears that as he grasps his head.

"You're in the hospital now," Skips add to calm Benson's freak out.

Benson breathes heavily for a few seconds and blinks a few times, "I… wow, I can't remember anything."

"What!?" Mordecai shouts in horror at the same time Rigby hisses happily, "Score!"

Mordecai gives Rigby a questioning look, puzzled by his excitement.

"Dude, think about it," Rigby pulls his friend to the side and whispers to him, "If he doesn't remember any of that stuff, he can't fire us for not doing our jobs!"

Mordecai's face is less than happy when he hears that, "Is that all you're worried about right now? Benson almost _died_, man."

Rigby shrugged, "Details. Oh, but hey! If Benson's like this, I bet you'll get promoted _again_ and get Benson's job. Dude, _you_ could be the _park manager._" On the spot Rigby makes up a little dance and a beat to go with the lyrics, "Promotion. Promotion. Promotion: Park manager, yeah!"

"I'm not taking Benson's job," Mordecai folds his arms across his chest as if that statement is final.

-

A day later he's in Maellard's office with him saying, "You're promoted to park manager! Get to work!"

The problem was that Mordecai didn't even know where to start. Benson had only taught him basic things in that week of training with him. He kind of wished he had paid more attention.

A few weeks went by and Mordecai was feeling more than exhausted with the work load piled on top of him at such short notice. It really didn't help that Rigby was supposed to train Benson how to do basic jobs around the park.

The temperature was dropping as Mordecai looked up at the thick grey clouds. There's a bite in the air that feels like it might snow any day now. He rubs his arms bitterly, not wanting to think about that. Mordecai sighs and looks down at his watch. It's no surprise that Rigby's late with bringing Benson to the park. When he sees the two strolling up the driveway without a care in the world, Mordecai's a bit envious.

"Thanks for letting me crash at your place last night, man! That party last night was off the hook!" Rigby shouted happily and gave Benson a high-five as if they've been age-old friends. Kind of like how he used to with Mordecai, "You are so much cooler since you lost your memory!"

"Um… thanks," Benson rubs the back of his neck as if he was shy, but has a big smile on his face showing he had a great time.

Mordecai feels awkward when he butts in to say, "Hey, uh… you guys are late."

Rigby and Benson give Mordecai a blank stare for a moment. Benson shies away, but Rigby grabs him by the arm. "Dude, let's show him that thing I taught you last night!"

"We better not," Benson says, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"Yeah, you better not." Mordecai can't get over the sudden change in demeanor since the accident. Benson hadn't lost his temper once. Now, he's really shy and gets embarrassed easily. It's really something he wasn't expecting.

"Nonsense! My bro here will get a kick out of it!" Rigby slips up Benson's shirt and Benson places his hands protectively over his slot before Rigby presses a little switch on what looks like a radio tattoo on Benson's chest.

It flips on to the chorus of _Hold the line! Love isn't always on time_ and Rigby and Benson start dancing to the beat synchronized.

Mordecai blinks as if confused. Benson wasn't listening to reason, but it was something new. On top of that, he was pretty good at staying in sync with Rigby. His exasperation almost melted away from seeing Benson having fun, but he was a little upset he was getting left out because of this new promotion. He never had time to do anything anymore and it sucked. He let the two finish their little dance-off before saying, "So, where did you get that tattoo, Benson?"

Benson pulled on his shirt and looked away, "It was… a long night."

"With Audrey!" Rigby teased.

Benson laughed with him and smacked Rigby's arm playfully, "It wasn't like that!" He met Mordecai's eyes and rubbed his arm, "…but uh, next time, it'd be cool if you came too."

Mordecai felt his face grow warm, which was weird because it was freezing out. It was just something about the way Benson was looking at him that made him feel very uncomfortable. He ignored the offer and looked over the paper in his hand, "So… It says here to drain the fountain before the first snow."

Rigby rolled his eyes, "You sound like Benson." Rigby exchanged glances with Benson before adding, "I meant, old Benson."

Mordecai actually kind of missed old Benson. He figured that's who Benson really was. That was the Benson that went through life and his experiences shaped who he was. This Benson had no recollection of anything and felt like a lost shell of a person. "You have a week to drain the fountain."

This was very lenient for their job description, but it felt like Rigby was doing less and less work since Benson lost his memory. Mordecai really didn't know how to motivate him to do anything around the park anymore. He thought about scaring him and firing him for a week, but he didn't have the heart to do that to his friend.

Rigby sauntered away with a tired look, probably to find a good spot to sit and listen to music until his shift ended.

Benson stayed though, which Mordecai felt uncomfortable with, "Can I help you?"

"I'm having another party this weekend, and…"

Mordecai cuts him off right there, "I really would, but I have stuff around here to do." He almost said _all of the stuff you dumped on me_, but that wasn't fair. It wasn't Benson's fault. Mordecai knew it was his own fault he was in this position.

"Well, tell me what needs to be done. I'll even do the fountain today on my own," Benson's old demeanor was shining slightly through, but his nervous stature was still there.

"Well, I don't know… I mean, you're not getting paid for all this," Mordecai said.

Benson grabbed the paper from Mordecai's hand with a determined look. He read over the list while stating, "You said I used to be the park manager. Well, more work might jog my memory." He looked up from the paper and smiled, "And don't worry about the pay. This is a deal. If I finish this whole list before the weekend, you come to my party."

Mordecai arched one eyebrow, confused. It wasn't much of a deal. Mordecai wins either way. What sells him is Benson's smile. It's very rare and even more rare to have it aimed at him. It was weird, but when Benson smiled it looked like he was ten years younger. "Deal," Mordecai says, shaking Benson's hand. He pulls away because it's freezing. That's when he realizes Benson's only wearing a T-shirt. "Dude! Aren't you cold?"

"Well, yeah," Benson confirms, "but I left my jacket at home. Like I said, crazy night."

Mordecai frowns, "A lot of the stuff on that list is for the outside." He doesn't know why Benson is so shocked when he unzips his coat and give it to him, but Mordecai would feel terrible about making Benson work outside in the cold without it. "I live here. So, I'll just go get another jacket from upstairs."

Benson's smile softens as he looks down at the light blue jacket. He slips it on and it's really big. The bottom almost goes down to his knees. "Thanks! I better get to work," he says, rushing off.

Mordecai stands there for a moment, watching how much energy he has. It was a mixed feeling inside him. How Benson was now was fresh and new, but he also missed how he used to be too. He was sure he was thinking too deep in the subject.

The cold finally got to Mordecai and he headed inside for his jacket, but he couldn't help wondering why Benson wanted him to go to his party so badly. It probably wouldn't be any different than last night. So, going out of his way to do more work was really odd.

Mordecai just came to the solution that Benson was just being nice and it would be nice to have a weekend to relax fully.


	5. Chapter 5

Mordecai noticed Benson had stuck to his deal throughout the week. His work ethic was incredible. He's never seen anyone so focused on their work as Benson was. Mordecai was so pleased that even if he didn't finish everything on the list, he would still say yes to the party. The guy gave it his best shot.

Mordecai was currently looking out the window of the computer room, taking a break from emails and typing in the numbers for inventory. He was watching Benson carrying large bags of fallen leaves and loading them onto the golf cart. He smiled.

Benson wiped his forehead and looked up into the window to spot Mordecai. His face heated slightly and waved at the blue jay.

Mordecai was just surprised he even noticed him. He hesitated to wave back. His eyes veered off of the gumball machine when he saw Rigby sneaking behind the wheel of the golf cart. "Oh no… he's not going to…" Mordecai said to himself as he watched Rigby floor the gas, causing the bags of leaves Benson had just piled in the back to fall and spill on top of him. Mordecai smacked his forehead and rushed down the stairs, almost tripping over his own feet in the process. When he got out the front door he was met with a very distraught Benson on the grass, looking down at the leaves and Rigby pointing and laughing. "Dude, Rigby! That wasn't cool."

"Make like a tree and leave, Mordecai," Rigby said with a long, "Oooooooohhhhh!"

"That saying doesn't even make any sense," Mordecai said, brushing off Rigby's insult.

Mordecai was going to turn to ask if Benson was alright, but his face was fuming red and his eyes were like pits of fire staring at Rigby. "What the _HECK!?_ I spent _hours_ on that job and you screwed it all up! It was the last thing on my list and I only have…" Benson looks down at his watch and his anger melted away into shock and horror. He only had five minutes to gather up the leaves in the bag and bring them to the dumpster before his shift ended. He frantically started shoveling them into the bags even though it was a lost cause and there was no way he'd finish the job on time.

"Benson," Mordecai sighed, getting his attention, "It's cool. Just go home. I'll clean this up."

"Wait! I still have five minutes! Please! Let me stay! I'm almost done!" Benson pleaded.

"Give it up, Benson. Mordecai is too _bus-aye_ to have a social life now," Rigby mocked, hopping out of the cart.

Mordecai could see the glassiness of Benson's eyes and it almost shattered his heart when he saw tears slipping down his cheeks. "I'm still going to the party, okay? I've just seen you working so hard this week that I think you deserve to go home early." Benson looked tired and Mordecai felt terrible about it. He helped Benson to his feet and tried to calm him down before convincing him that it was okay to leave without finishing the job.

Rigby was leaning against the cart, looking at his fingernails not amused.

"Clean this mess up," Mordecai said, calmly.

"What!? Dude, this is Benson's job. If you wanted it cleaned up, make _him_ do it," Rigby countered.

"Yeah, except I'm forced by law to pay you the same wage as Benson and it isn't fair that he does way more work than you do. If you don't start pulling your weight around here, maybe I shouldn't pay you at all," Mordecai eyes Rigby and crosses his arms across his chest.

"Are you saying…?" Rigby asks, leaving the question hanging in the air.

"What do you think I'm saying?" Mordecai asks, honestly.

"I think you're saying…"

"I think you know what you think I'm saying."

"You think you know what I think… wait, what?" Rigby says confused.

"Clean this up or your fired," Mordecai states simply, with a composed voice. He walks away and feels horrible about saying it. He couldn't keep this up even though he knows Rigby doesn't have anything going for him other than this job and if he gets fired, he doesn't have any job history to back him up for any jobs in the future. Mordecai just wished his friend could get his act together a little bit.

* * *

As promised, when Saturday rolled around Mordecai was getting ready for the party. He wasn't sure why he was looking himself over in the mirror for thirty minutes. It wasn't like anyone special was going to be there, right?

Rigby pops his head into the bathroom and rolls his eyes, "You're still in here?"

"I was uh… just getting out," Mordecai says with a slight laugh. He smoothed down his band T-shirt and checked his hair in the mirror one more time before leaving.

"Hey, sorry about yesterday… I guess," Rigby begins and it's the closest thing Mordecai will ever get for an apology from him and he accepts it. "So, to make up for it, I asked Eileen to bring Margaret along."

Stars explode in the back of Mordecai's vision as if he just got punched in the back of the head, "M-M-Margaret!?" He rushes back in the bathroom to thoroughly check himself over.

"You look fine," Rigby says, snaking his way into the bathroom and trying to wrestle his friend out of the door so they could just go already.

"This coming from the guy who's wearing a shirt that just says _'Party,'_" Mordecai mocks.

"Stop talking!" Rigby screeches and scurries onto the sink so he can block the mirror, "I want everyone to know that when I walk in the party can officially start!"

"Whatever," Mordecai rolls his eyes, "Oh, does Benson want us to bring our own beverages?"

Rigby finally gets Mordecai out of the bathroom with a conversation of drinks, "Nah, he has a stash at home. Like extra strong S with twice the sugar of regular soda. He probably has a sugar high already and I'm not there to laugh at how stupid he looks. Now, let's go before we miss the party!"

"Alright, alright. Geez," Mordecai rushes down the stairs with his friend and makes their way across town to arrive at Benson's house by foot.

Rigby doesn't bother knocking on the door because he can hear the music inside, meaning it already started without him. Mordecai tries to stop him, but Rigby already rushed in on all fours and disappearing into a crowd of people.

Mordecai sighs and enters awkwardly through the sea of dancing people. He was shocked. Benson actually was really good at throwing parties. It takes him a moment to figure out that the music was coming from a drum set in the center of the room.

That's where he found Benson. He was jamming out and he was _good_. He had the cuffs of his shirt pulled up to his elbows with a fuchsia and navy sweater vest with argyle designs running across it. The sound of the beat he was making was pumping up the crowd and getting the party hot. When he finished the set, everyone was cheering, but his eyes fell on the one blue jay in the room. He grabbed the towel hanging from his shoulder and wiped his face before rushing over to him. He had a big smile on his face as he greeted him, "Glad you could make it!"

"I'm glad I did. Wow, Benson. You were _hot_," Mordecai compliments and for some reason he feels weird about it. He stutters on his words feeling like he should reiterate, "I mean, um… y-you know, your music. You're really good."

Benson takes the compliment and his cheeks burn bright with embarrassment, "Thanks!" It must be the caffeine because Benson seems a lot more loose and talkative as oppose to when he's at work. "Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. When I got home, I saw this room in the back with the drum set and posters and records. When I started up some music, it was like second nature to me."

"You have a music room!?" Mordecai didn't mean for his voice to go as high pitch as it did, but he would have never guessed it. His apartment looked so small from the outside.

"Yeah! Come on, let me show you," Benson says eagerly and pulls Mordecai to the back with him.

They came to a door next to the bedroom and opened it. When Benson switched on the lights it was a big room with two additional drum sets. Posters of classic rock legends were framed across the walls and some were even signed by the artists themselves. A really nice record player was in the corner with a box full of records it looked like Benson had pulled out of storage.

Mordecai was in awe, "Whoa! This is incredible!" He felt dizzy looking around and found himself sitting down at one of the drum sets. He stepped on the base pedal lightly and smiled at the sound of it.

"Catch," Benson throws Mordecai a canned soft drink.

Mordecai juggles with it almost dropping it, but catching it at the last minute. "What is this stuff?" He asks and opens the top before drinking it. It goes down hard and he can already feel his head floating a little.

Benson shrugged, "I don't know? Apparently it was imported from Brazil or something."

"I didn't take you for a caffeine drinker."

Benson looks back at Mordecai, scanning him up and down for a moment. "You know, it's weird. People seem to know a lot about me, but not you. Was I trying to hide something from you?"

"Me?" Mordecai is taken off guard, "Well, I don't know? It might be because you were my boss. You know, work and personal life aren't supposed to clash or something." Mordecai gets a strange feeling in his gut when he watches Benson walk closer to him and look him in the eyes. He can smell the artificial flavors and sugar from the soda on Benson's breath. He's so close, he isn't really sure how to react to that.

"I think I know what I've been hiding from you," there's a smile on Benson's face now and he leans in closer.

"Y-you…! You do!?" Mordecai is seconds away from freaking out because he really thinks Benson's going to kiss him.

"Hey, Benson! Are you back here!?" Rigby's voice rings through the heavily acoustic room. He doesn't notice Mordecai or anything that's going on because he shuts the door behind him and is peering out at some angry party goers, "Looks like they want an encore."

Benson sighs and pulls away from Mordecai, "Alright. Alright." He snatches Rigby's drink away from him and chugs it down, "Just let me get my buzz up again."

"_HEY!_" Rigby tries to retrieve his soda, but it's empty by the time it's in his hands again. "Whatever! I'm playing on your drum sets!" he shouts out to Benson as he leaves the room.

Mordecai is still in his seat, stunned that that had just happened. What the heck was going on with Benson? Was he that gone on caffeine that he would act like that?

"Dude, you look like you just seen fives' family float by," Rigby comments on Mordecai's horrified facial expression. He spots the drink in Mordecai's hand and snags it, "You gunna drink this?!"

"Go ahead," Mordecai said, feeling like he probably couldn't stomach it. He couldn't tell if he was feeling sick or if his chest was going to burst with butterflies. Man, he was confused. Does Benson like him!? More importantly, does _he_ like Benson? Was Mordecai gay!?

"Earth to Mordecai," Rigby says waving his hand in front of his face, "Dude, the party is out there! You don't want to miss Margaret, do you?"

Mordecai's stomach flipped and he felt like he was going to be sick now. He was definitely not gay, but what was going on with him? "Is she here?" He asks Rigby.

"Um… yeah," Rigby says as if Mordecai should have known that.

Mordecai stood up suddenly and began to panic, "What!? Oh no! What do I do!?"

Rigby opens the door and motions out into the living room, "Make your move!"

Mordecai swallows because there's too much pressure on him right now. Although, Rigby was right. He should be out there with Margaret and Benson should be the farthest thing from his thoughts right now. He takes a breath and walks out into the party, spotting the red robin. He gets her attention and rubs the back of his neck, "Haha… Hey, Margaret."

"Oh, Mordecai! There you are!" She pulls him into a hug and they walked into the crowd of dancing people. They start to dance and he looks over at Benson playing drums, "Is that your boss? That's really cool. I wish my boss was this laid back."

"Yeah…" Mordecai tries to laugh it off. _So much for Benson being the last thing he's thinking about._ He decides to leave out the part where he's actually Benson's boss now. "So, uh… speaking of which, how's the coffee shop?"

"Good," Margaret says with a lonely smile. One he's never thought she'd ever give him. "I kind of miss seeing my favorite customer everyday though. Have you been busy lately?"

He wants to say, _you have no idea_. He just nods and doesn't really give any in depth explanation.

"Aw… That's too bad. I really do miss you," Margaret sounds sad as she reaches out to hold Mordecai's hand. Suddenly, they aren't dancing anymore. "I guess, I really didn't know what I missed until it was gone…"

Mordecai is standing there with Margaret's hands in his. It's so perfect. It's what he's been dreaming about for years now. He's known he's liked Margaret the moment he first saw her and he's been wanting to take this to the next level. Why was there a nagging feeling in his gut all of a sudden?

She fits into his arms perfectly and they're chest-to-chest. She's looking so deep into his eyes, he feels like he's being reeled in. Her arm slides up his back and his hand is against the back of her head. She closes the space and they're kissing in the middle of Benson's living room with people dancing around them.

There's just something wrong though. Mordecai pictured this kiss so many times in his head, but it didn't feel the same. There weren't any sparks and he wasn't drawn for more. He furrowed his brow and hated himself for not feeling a deep attraction to it. He pulls away and looks into her eyes, just to make sure he's sure there's nothing there. When he doesn't, he hangs his head and says, "I'm sorry."

Margaret smiles lightly, "Why are you sorry? That was amazing." When she goes in for a second kiss, she's confused when she misses and is met with Mordecai's hand.

"I have to go," Mordecai slips through the crowd and heads for the door. When he turns back to see Benson playing, he's hot in the face and it's almost like he's too focused on playing his set. They meet eyes for a brief second and the expression on Benson's face says everything. He saw and he was hurt by it. Mordecai has no idea why he feels guilty as he walks out the door and into the cool night air.


	6. Chapter 6

Monday morning arrived and Mordecai felt like his eyes were burning. He wanted to just roll over and fall back asleep, but knew he had to get up now or he'd be up all night with work. He had trouble sleeping the night before: thinking. He felt bad about turning down Margaret. He _really_ felt bad about having Benson seeing them. He wasn't sure why. It wasn't like he was seeing anyone. He had every right to kiss her if he wanted to.

Yeah.

-but why does he feel so bad then?

Rigby found Mordecai a few hours later when his shift started. "What is _wrong_ with you, man? Eileen told me that you just left Margaret after she kissed you! You really just stood her up?"

"Not now, Rigby," Mordecai felt his head throbbing.

"No, now. We're talking about it _now_," Rigby was persistent. He stopped in front of Mordecai, "Dude, are you okay?" This time, he sounded genuinely worried.

This is the point where Mordecai realizes he can't just come out and say what's bothering him. He couldn't tell Rigby that something had clicked that night with him and Benson without him making fun of him. He doesn't have an outlet for this and he doesn't know who he can actually talk to about it. He'd also turn into the worst friend in the world if he doesn't tell Rigby either.

"I don't think I have feelings for Margaret anymore," Mordecai admits, quietly.

Rigby's eyebrows shoot up, "Dude! You like someone else! Who is she? Are you seeing CJ again?"

Mordecai groans because it's the first time he feels weird about anyone assuming it's a girl. "One: me and CJ weren't dating. Two: No, it isn't. Three: I'm not telling," he explained heading out the back.

Rigby followed after, "Oh, so now you're Mordecai the lady killer?"

"The… what?" Mordecai turned to look at Rigby like he grew two heads.

It just so happened Benson had walked up to them just hearing Rigby's comment. His glare was aimed at Mordecai as if he had to agree, but he looked as though he had other things on his mind. "Can I talk to you?"

Mordecai blinked once and looked over at Rigby.

Rigby seemed determined to stand where he did.

"_ALONE!_" Benson's anger erupted.

Rigby was gone within seconds.

Mordecai sighed and shook his head, "If this is about Saturday night…"

Benson's fist flew into Mordecai's stomach, knocking the air out of him. "No, actually this _isn't_ about Saturday! As far as I'm concerned, that night never existed! I wanted to talk to you about something else!"

Mordecai winced and looked up at Benson's face. He was fuming and panting out of anger. He hasn't seen him this mad since he lost his memory. "Oh, okay…" Mordecai says roughly, trying to stand up straight again, "Shoot."

Benson is silent for a moment, as if searching for what to say. "I want a raise," he finally says, looking down nervously and all signs of anger vanished.

"What?" Mordecai was shocked that's what he wanted to tell him. Out of all the things he was expecting, that wasn't one of them.

"Are you deaf? I want a raise!" Benson reiterates with frustration, "It's… really hard to pay rent on this wage."

"Well, uh… I guess, I can talk to Meallard," Mordecai says, not really sure how to handle this kind of situation.

Benson rubs the back of his neck nervously, "I kind of need it right away. Is there any way I can borrow the money now and pay you back later?"

Mordecai is shocked. Was Benson going to lose his place if he said no? Mordecai had some extra money, but he was really trying to save it. The look on Benson's face though, he looked helpless. He really didn't have the heart to tell him no. Mordecai dug through his pocket to find his wallet. Most of the money he earned slipped into Benson's hand.

"Like I said, I'll pay this back," Benson promised.

Mordecai looked down at the money and frowned. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for him. He took Benson's job, his money, and he possibly almost got his home taken away. He couldn't live with this guilt anymore. He folds Benson's fingers over the money and looks him in the eyes, "No, take it. It's yours."

Benson swallow. He looked like he wanted to give it back, but he knew he had to pay up. It was very apparent that this wasn't a raise, but part of Mordecai's check. He shoves it in his pocket and wishes he had his memory back. With it he could become manager again. "Thanks, but I'm paying you back. I am _not_ a charity case."

Mordecai grabs Benson's shoulder when he sees him turn to leave. He looks back at Mordecai to see what he wants. Mordecai is suddenly brought back to that night where he could smell the sweet sugar of soda. "Um… Are you sure you don't want to talk about Saturday?"

"I was gone. I wasn't in my right state of mind," Benson offers, "So, I don't really think there's much to say."

"…right," Mordecai lets his hand slide from Benson's shoulder, "Maybe now isn't the right time."

Benson laughs and it's bitter and ugly, "Yeah, and I doubt any time is the right time to talk about that. Do me a favor and whatever I did last night: _Keep it to yourself!_"

Mordecai didn't see an issue with that. It wasn't like he could talk about it with anyone.

* * *

It's been weeks and Benson still hasn't gotten his memory back. Mordecai is worried because he doesn't know when it'll happen or if Benson will never remember anything ever again.

He clicks through some emails until he comes across a coupon for the music store in town. He smiles and finally prints it out after two times of the machine getting jammed. He's planning on getting Benson something to make up for Saturday.

When he gets there, the place is filled with instruments. "Cooooooool," he mused, looking over all the shiny equipment.

"Anything I can help you find?" The clerk asked and his appearance was very broad and dramatic, like he was an actor. Mordecai glanced at his nametag that read _Prince Boe._ What? Was this guy royalty or something?

"Well, I wanted to buy something special for someone. They're a drummer and…"

The clerk hopped onto the service counter and spoke as if reciting from a play, "Ah, it's lover! Star-crossed lovers fated and destined to be with one another! But, alas, things went astray and now you must win your affections back!" He hopped down from the counter, seemingly not moving a single muscle in his body. He smirked at the blue jay with sharp eyebrows that could cut steel, "Might I suggest, selecting a weapon of your choice and playing them a melody that could make _angels_ wail in anguish!"

"I…I can't play," Mordecai states, lamely. "That's why I'm here to buy something for _them._"

"Unacceptable!" The clerk shouts and it's like a guitar appears out of thin air (and sparkles and dust).

Mordecai was all wide-eyes at it. It was a silver and blue Gibson with transparent bands around the neckpiece. It looked like it was _made_ for him. He gives in, "How much?" He says as he slaps down the coupon. He doesn't even care if he doesn't know how to play it. At this point in the game, he could _learn._

"This?" The clerk takes the coupon and rips it in half, almost giving Mordecai a heart attack. "It's free. As long as it's put to good use. Win him over before nightfall."

Mordecai steps back, taken off guard by what he had said. How did this guy know he was buying for another guy? Before he knew what was going on, the guitar was in his arms and he was walking out the doors. He's so distracted by the instrument that he forgets that he used his lunch break in order to walk down there. He sprints back to the park feeling good about himself.

* * *

Benson's sitting on the stairs of the porch as Mordecai gets back. He stands up and puts his hands on his hips, "Where have you been? I finished my first job of the day, you were supposed to assign me another one twenty minutes ago. You're making me look like a slacker."

Mordecai looks down at his guitar then back up at Benson, "You're taking a break. With me." He looks around, then points at the shed, "In there."

"What!?" Benson shouts with aggravation, "I just took one!"

"Take another one," Mordecai slings the guitar over his shoulder and grabs Benson's hand, guiding him over there. The shed is dark and dusty when they walk in. A small amount of light trickles in from the window.

"Why are we in here?" Benson asks.

Mordecai sticks one finger up like _hold on._ He pulls the guitar down in his arms and takes a breath. _This better work._ When the guitar pick hits the strings and his fingers move to the chords he feels a burst of confidence wash over him. The guitar refs of _Pour Some Sugar On Me_ echo through the walls of the shed.

Benson's eyes go wide and he's completely stunned. He can't believe what he's hearing. Mordecai is playing for him and it's incredible. It literally feels like the music is flowing inside him.

The power at his fingertips was intense. He's never felt anything like it. And suddenly the lyrics start spilling from his lungs. He's looking at Benson and he's staring right back. There's a fire in his eyes, but it's hot with lust instead of anger. The guitar was releasing emotions Mordecai's yet to see from Benson and he's starting to feel like those emotions were becoming visible in himself. He seethes between lyrics and swings his hips.

When Benson hears _"I'm hot, sticky sweet. From my head to my feet, yeah!"_ his flap flips open, riding his shirt up and it takes every ounce of will power to press it down and cover it closed. His eyes flutter open and he's trying to cover up these feelings with anger. "Mordecai! Stop this! It's inappropriate!"

The problem is that Mordecai can't stop. Everything from his fingers to his vocal chords are working on autopilot.

The rage and emotions begin to build up in Benson's body and he feels like his body is going to overheat. His insides twist and tremble and he groans deep in the back of his throat. He doesn't want to admit it, but this feeling of being out of control and wild feels amazing. He refuses to lose himself though. He has more self control than that. He practically screams in an attempt to prevent Mordecai from hitting another note, "Stop playing that stupid guitar and get back to work before I fire you!"

This snaps Mordecai out of it briefly and looks up at Benson with clear eyes, "Wha?"

Benson goes after Mordecai as if he's going to attack him, but he ends up pulling Mordecai's shoulder closer to him and kisses him hard.

Mordecai hits a hard note and one of his guitar strings break from the force in a loud metallic sound. He can't believe what's happening at this moment. Despite that fact, he closes his eyes and enjoys it. It's a kiss so intense, he gets that clique weak in the knees feeling. Benson's lips are hungry against his and he feels the same urgent sensation. He shrugs the guitar from his shoulder and Benson's unzipping his jacket. Mordecai has no idea how far this is going to go and he's afraid he has no will inside him to stop.

Luckily, Benson gets a hold of himself. He's breathing heavily and holding the bottom of his shirt down. He pulls away and holds his head, fear bubbling up inside him. "Holy crap! What just happened? Why did…? If anyone finds out… This is _so_ against code of conduct!"

Mordecai arches one eyebrow, "Wait, Benson?" He asks as if the guy he was just swapping spit with wasn't said guy.

"Of course it's me! I'm your boss! Who did you…!" Benson looks down at himself and smiles slightly, "Hah! I remember!" He meets Mordecai's eyes and is suddenly panicking again, "But why is this happening!?"

"Benson! Benson, Relax!" Mordecai is forced to pull Benson by the shoulders and shake him a little in order to stop him from freaking out. Mordecai had a whole speech set up in his mind about how everything is going to be okay and no one's going to find out, but all he can manage to say before he pulls him in a hug is: "I'm so glad you're back."

The fact that that's the only thing on Mordecai's mind is enough to calm Benson a little. "We shouldn't…" He feels Mordecai's arms tighten around him and he takes the hint. It was already out there. They both knew. There was really no denying it anymore as much as Benson wants to. _Badly_.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mordecai asked with a sad tone.

Even though Benson can't see Mordecai's face, he cranes his head in the opposite direction. "And say what exactly? An old guy like me? Liking a young guy like you? …with a potential girlfriend?" Benson's words progressively got softer and softer.

"You're not that old," Mordecai says with an angry bite, "…and Margaret… I stood her up at the party."

Benson didn't feel any better after hearing that. He knew he didn't want to say anything because he didn't want to interfere with his life. It seemed too normal. Too perfect. "Don't do this, Mordecai. You can still get her back. Don't focus on a stupid has-been like me. I've had plenty of relationships and F'd them all up on my own. I don't want to drag you down with me."

Mordecai can't believe what he's hearing. Benson can't really mean any of that stuff he just said. Mordecai pulls away and gives Benson a long, hard stare before smacking him across the face. "I can't believe you'd even say that stuff about yourself! You're hard-working, you're talented… yeah, you have some anger issues, but really who doesn't? I don't think you're old or a has-been or a F-up. I think you're pretty cool just the way you are."

Benson sends a glare at Mordecai and punches him in the arm.

"Hey!" Mordecai rubs his arm. Suddenly, he feels like he's in a cyclone of pain and pleasure when Benson is kissing him out of the blue.

Benson clears his throat as he backs away and walks to the exit. The door opens and the light from the outside is bright and brilliant, and so is Benson's smile before he leaves. His attitude changes on a happier note when he says, "Get back to work."

Mordecai just smiles back at him, "Uh, yeah, sure."


	7. Chapter 7

At this point, not only has Rigby reverted back to being lazier than he's ever been, but he refuses to leave his room anymore and Mordecai is forced sleeping on the couch. Mordecai groans because he never realized how many people woke up so early (early being before 9:30 in the morning). But to Mordecai, anything single digits in the am is too early. He's forced to get up around 8 and figures if he's going to be awake he's going to make himself a good breakfast.

He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and starts up a frying pan. When he looks in the cabinet he spots a bag on pancake mix, "Sweet!" He eyes the fridge and opens it. "Score!" He dances in place when he sees some blueberries inside. He mixes the ingredients together like a madman and pours the batter in the frying pan to make the biggest pancake he can muster.

He hears the front door open and when he sees Benson walk into the kitchen, they exchange glances briefly. They've barely talked since the _incident_, but Benson blushed and looked away. "Did expect _you_ to be up so early."

Mordecai awkwardly sighs through his lips, "Y-yeah, well, Rigby locked me out of the room and I had to sleep on the couch again."

Benson folds his arms across his chest, "Speaking of Rigby… I'm going to have to fire him today."

"Stop joking, Benson," Mordecai says, flipping his pancake. His tone was a bit dark as if to say, we aren't having this conversation again.

"I'm not," Benson said, a bit defeated, "Mr. Maellard wants him gone."

Mordecai turns to Benson and gives him a hard stare, "What the heck? What did you tell Maellard?"

Benson laughs bitterly, "Me? Maellard doesn't listen to me. He chewed my ass out when he found out Rigby was sunbathing in the fountain. He said if _I_ didn't fire him…"

Mordecai frowns. He gets it. He loves his friend to death, but lately he wasn't doing anything. He knows Benson doesn't want to do it. He can see it in his eyes. The fact that he's looking down and rubbing his arm nervously, he can tell. After he lost his memory and started hanging out with Rigby more, must have made Benson a little closer to him because the situation was much different from before.

"I'll wake him up…" Benson says and Mordecai can see tears pricking at his eyes.

Mordecai frowns and stops him. He places his hand on his shoulder and hands him the spatula. "I'll do it," Mordecai whispers to him and pushes him lightly into the kitchen.

Benson watches Mordecai walk out into the gaming area and can't believe what he just heard. Mordecai was taking responsibility? It was a mixed feeling of warm and hurt and he just let out a nervous breath.

* * *

Mordecai knocked on Rigby's door, "Hey, wake up!"

There was no answer. Mordecai sighed and knocked again.

"Come on, dude! I need to talk to you!"

Still, there was no answer. He decided he needed to get in. Rigby has been in there for days and for all he knew he could be dead. He slammed his shoulder into the door until he broke it open and tumbled to the floor. When he stood up and looked around, he was terrified by what he saw.

Their bedroom was no a portal to a different dimension! "What the heck!?"

"Hello," it was the guy who he got the guitar from.

"You!" Mordecai said, bitterly, "Where's Rigby!?"

"Your friend is with me," he said smartly.

"Well, give him back!"

"I will…" he waved his hand a great maze appeared behind him, "if you can get through my labyrinth."

"What!?"

"You have 13 hours or I'm taking your friend," the guitar salesman said before disappearing.

Benson rushed upstairs when he heard the screaming and was expecting to see Rigby and Mordecai going at in, not a labyrinth in the household. "Holy crap! What is going on!?"

"Come on!" Mordecai grabs Benson's hand and rushes both of them into the entrance.

"Are you crazy! We can't just-!"

"He has Rigby!" Mordecai shouts.

Benson stops him and glares at him, pissed because he's lost at what's going on, "Who has Rigby?"

"The.. uh… Guy who sold me the guitar…?" Mordecai explains.

"….I knew you didn't learn guitar," Benson says with defeat. He sighs and he grabs Mordecai's arm, "Come on!"

"Wait," Mordecai pulls away and slings the instrument over his shoulder.

"Why do you need that?" Benson asks.

"Dude, you never know," Mordecai shrugs. He waves his wrist in Benson's face, "You can continue to drag me against my will."

Benson smirks and grabs his wrist tightly, "Why do I get this feeling you _enjoy_ this."

"Let me come over tonight after work," Mordecai gives him a half-lidded gaze.

"Shut up and help me find Rigby or you're fired," Benson pulls him through the seemingly never ending paths of the maze.

* * *

"Dude, no. It's this way. Trust me," Mordecai says, pointing in one direction.

"Why the heck do you think it's that way?" Benson asks, folding his arms.

"I-I don't know? I can just feel it," Mordecai says.

"You can _feel_ it?" Benson repeats doubtfully.

"Trust me," Mordecai holds his hand out for him.

It takes Benson a second, but he finally rolls his eyes and takes his hand. His cheeks light up slightly because he kind of likes being lead by Mordecai. The gears turn in his stomach and he thinks that he might actually consider taking Mordecai home with him after all this.

It's an hour of Mordecai's hunch and they're both starting to lose hope, until they turn the corner and the castle emerges into their view.

"How did you know?" Benson asks.

"I think I saw it in this older movie," Mordecai explains and leads them through a small village and onto the steps of the castle. He kicks open the door and a bunch of goblin guards are awaiting their arrival.

"Crap…" Benson sighs and gets into a fighting stance. He takes out one of the goblins holding a spear and takes out the other dozen with a swift motion. He claps the dust off his hands, successfully clearing a path in record time. "Come on, it's this way—" Benson is silenced because Mordecai's arms around him, trailing up his body and kissing his cheek. His gears crank inside him and his face fumes bright red.

"That was _hot,_" Mordecai whispers.

Benson pulls away and pushes down his slot that's raising without his say so, "C-come on! Focus!" His voice squeaks and quickly continues down the corridors, trying to take his mind off Mordecai.

Mordecai blissfully follows after.

When they get to the throne room, there's nothing but stairs wrapped around the room. The salesman smiles smoothly and makes his way over to the two through the complex maze of steps.

"So nice of you to show," Prince Boe says.

"Give us Rigby!" Mordecai calls out.

"He's free to go," the salesman explains, "that's his own choice in the matter."

Mordecai looks up and sees Rigby standing with his arms crossed over his chest, standing up-side down on a stairway.

"Come on, dude!" Mordecai shouts to him.

"No! You've acted like my friend, but you're nothing but a _big jerk_! Ever since your stupid promotion all you do is hang out with Benson! You don't even care about me!" Rigby screeches angrily.

"Dude, you're my best friend! Of course I care about you!" Mordecai defends himself.

"If you cared you wouldn't try so hard and get demoted like we planned!" As Rigby says this, Mordecai and Benson exchanges glances. Mordecai looks away with embarrassment, "But no! You're tied to the hip to Benson and you never have time for me anymore!"

"Rigby…" Mordecai says with sadness dripping in his voice.

"Stop talking!" Rigby shouts and it's so loud it shakes the room a little.

"Looks like Rigby wants to stay with me," Prince Boe says triumphantly, "He shall be the new Goblin Prince and I will be the King!"

Mordecai just looks away like all of this is his fault. Benson looks up and is determined. He rushes upwards and down the stairs in every direction in order to catch Rigby, but no matter which stairway he takes, it seems like Rigby is getting farther and farther away from him. Benson gives Mordecai a look that says, _'Do something!'_ When he sees Mordecai hang his head in defeat, he knows something needs to be done.

"Rigby!" Benson shouts to get his attention, "Stop blaming others for your actions! The only one who doesn't _care_ is _you!_ If you cared about Mordecai, you would understand and stop making his job harder than it is! You'd make both our jobs easier if you just tried!"

"Why should I listen to _you!_ You're just a mean jerk who has no friends! You couldn't care about anyone if you _tried!_" Rigby shouts and rumbles the room until the stairs fall apart and the four of them are floating in pure space.

Benson closes his eyes. He looks like he's going to lose it, but he takes a breath. "I care," Benson finally whispers. He reaches out and grabs Mordecai's hand. "We both care," Benson says as he opens his eyes and stares at the distraught Rigby. Benson holds his hand out to him and there's sadness and regret in his eyes. "I care about the two of you more than anything. Even the stupid park and even more than my job. I risked my job many times for you two, just to ensure that you have some sort of normal and secure life. Something I just didn't have growing up." Benson reaches out as far as he can to Rigby, but he knows Rigby has to take that last inch and reach back to him, "Please, I love you two so much."

Mordecai looks up and sees the sincerity in his face. His hold tightens on Benson's hand and he reaches out to Rigby as well. "Come on, dude. Let's go home," Mordecai says, smiling at him.

Rigby frowns and looks down at the two hands that are presented to him. It's like he can't believe what he's hearing. He turns to look back at the Goblin King and he shakes his head. Rigby throws his head up and bawls as he grabs onto them, "I love you guys too!"

With the help of Mordecai, Benson reels Rigby in and holds on tight to him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The King shouts in anger as his castle deteriorates away. He holds his hand out and it's as if Rigby is getting sucked toward him, "You _will_ be my prince!"

"Hold onto him. I've got a plan," Mordecai explains.

Benson wraps both arm around Rigby and holds him in place as he gives Mordecai a nervous look.

Mordecai whips the guitar in front of him and lets his fingers dance along the fret board. It begins to light up with a white light. When he strums the last chord he says, "Dance, magic die!" The white light sprays out of the instrument and the King melts away beneath the thick light.

It's like the gravity shifts on them and they start falling downward. After a good while in their plummet, they fall in a pile back into the bedroom.

When Rigby sees that everything is back to normal, he scurries out of the dogpile and wraps his arms around both Mordecai and Benson, "Thank you! Thank you so much!" He cries and sobs, and he's just a mess between them.

"Haha. What a baby," Mordecai teases.

"STOP TALKING!" Rigby shouts angrily.

Maellard is standing outside of the door with his arms crossed over his chest, "My office. Now."

Benson eyes show fear as if he knows what this means. He gets up, but is stopped by Mordecai. Benson reaches for him, but Mordecai is already out the door and behind the office door.

"What is he doing?" Benson whispers to himself.

Rigby shrugs, "Covering for you."

Benson looks away in shame.

* * *

Benson is downstairs, sitting at the kitchen table with a look of worry on his face. He doesn't know what will happen or if he even has his job anymore. He could only trust that Mordecai had a plan. When he hears the door upstairs shut, he stands up and sees Maellard walk to the front door.

Maellard acknowledges Benson and nods, "Good work, Benson. You trained your employees well." With that he shuts the door and is gone.

Benson is blinking rapidly with confusion because not only did he just get complimented, but his boss actually said his name right.

Mordecai makes his way down the stairs with a smiles on his face as he whistles. He gives Benson a half-lidded look and a proud expression as he makes his way over to him.

"How-!? What-?! What did you tell him!?" Benson stutters.

"I showed him the resale value on that guitar I had and totally saved the park a lot of money. After that, I told him you told me to fire Rigby and I came to the conclusion that Rigby just needed to be retrained. He totally bought it," Mordecai explained and casually wrapped his hand around Benson's waist. The total surprise and impressed look on Benson's face gave him enough courage to lean in and whisper, "So, your place tonight?"

Benson's slot opens abruptly between them and he quickly pushes it closed, walking away. "No way!" He shouts with his whole head fuming with a feeling that isn't rage. He pants a little and closes his eyes shut. This was inappropriate and he's so happy that there isn't anyone inside right now.

Mordecai sighs and shrugs, "Alright, alright. Sorry, dude." Just when he's going to turn and walk away, Benson's hand is on his wrist. He stops and waits for him, with a hopeful feeling fluttering in his chest.

"I don't know if I'm ready," Benson finally says, "I haven't been with anyone in a long time…"

"Dude," Mordecai says with a smile, "take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

Benson's fingers knit together behind Mordecai's head and pulls him into a rough kiss of lips and tongues. It slowly turns soft and sensual. Benson's body is pressed against Mordecai's as he feels Mordecai's arms rest on his hips. They slowly pull away as the kiss breaks naturally and their faces are flushed with excitement.

Benson gasps as his slot bumps between them and he looks away with embarrassment.

Mordecai bites his lip and presses it down again, earning him a low groan from Benson's mouth. "I can't wait until you're ready," Mordecai whispers with a smile.

"You're going to have to," Benson says with a pout and meets Mordecai's hands down to his slot. He looks into his eyes for a good moment before dusting Mordecai's hands away. "G-get back to work," Benson says with a flustered look on his face.

"Yes, sir," Mordecai salutes him and add a wink for good measure.

Benson huffs and walks away with a huge smile on his face that he'll never let Mordecai see.


End file.
